McKenzie Sports Report – October 9

McKenzie Varsity Sports Schedule This Week

The McKenzie Varsity Volleyball team hosts Mohawk on Tuesday, October 7, and match time is scheduled for 6:00 pm. The Eagle team travels to Alsea on Thursday, October 9, to participate in a three-way match. McKenzie plays Alsea at 3:00 pm and follows with a match versus Eddyville Charter at 4:30 pm.

The McKenzie Varsity Cross Country teams host the Old Mill XC Invitational on Saturday, October 11. The meet will be held at the Aaron and Marie Jones Community Track and the Three Sisters Meadow. A boys and girls middle school 3,000 meters race will start at 10:00 am. The Varsity Girls 5,000 meters race starts at 10:45 am and the Varsity Boys 5.000 meters starts at 11:30 am.

The McKenzie Varsity Football team hosts North Lake on Friday, October 10. Kickoff is slated for 7:00 pm.

First Home Cross Country Meet In 12 Years!

McKenzie Community Track and Field

Hosts Old Mill XC Invitational This Saturday

The McKenzie Community Track and Field is hosting a home Varsity/Middle School Cross Country meet this Saturday, October 11, at the Aaron and Marie Jones Community Track and adjoining Three Sisters Meadow. This is the first home Cross Country meet for the Eagles in 12 years. And it’s a really big deal!

Perhaps you have noticed or taken advantage of the hard work the MCTF has been accomplishing on the Pond Trail. Last Spring, contracted work from Pure Waters Partners and Oregon Woods, continued invasive removal and native plant plantings along the South side of the property facing the McKenzie Highway.

MCTF hired and partnered with Zach Nastasiuk Contracting to remove invasive blackberries along the Pond perimeter, trail and surrounding areas. Nastasiuk donated several days of work as well. Recently, MCTF Board members manually removed tree roots from the Pond Trail that were tripping hazards to runners and walkers alike. This work was followed up by donated services provided by Sunny Willis of BioBuilders and his hired hand, Vinney. They continued important blackberries removal as well as filling holes and leveling the Pond Trail in preparation for the next stage of development.

Rexius Landscaping and Ken Brown donated approximately 260 cubic yards of mulch chips to cover the Trail and Virgil Kropf, owner/operator of Brush Creek Transport, as a donated service, delivered that material. John Barnes, a close friend of MCTF Board member Sylvia Dion and Mr. Kropf, helped coordinate the hauling. Chad Sperry of Breakaway Promotions/Gravel Grinders donated his skid steer and trailer to spread the chips over the Pond Trail and many McKenzie Cross Country parents and athletes put in several hours walking, planning, and hand preparing the meet course, directed by MCTF Board member and past Oregon State University/Auburn Track and Field Coach Kelly Sullivan. Matt Barreau, current Thurston Track and Field Assistant Coach and past Lewis and Clark University Coach, donated his help in designing and creating meet maps and signs.

This Saturday, five high school and middle school teams start their 5K and 3K races on a course that has not held a meet in many years. Indeed, there is vision and planning moving forward for a Cross Country trail that would rival any anywhere else in our region. The production completed thus far is just the first steps to a high class running trail, which would attract athletes of all levels, competitive and recreational.

MCTF is proactively improving its facilities and venue with aggressive goals, which promote the rebuilding, and revitalization of the entire McKenzie Community. Want to jump on the bandwagon?? Consider talking to any of the MCTF Board members and they would be glad to share their enthusiasm, visions, and ways one might help build the Future.

Eagle Cross Country Teams

At Stayton Regis Invitational

The Eagle Varsity Cross Country teams traveled to Stayton, last Thursday, October 2, for the Stayton Regis Invitational meet, which featured 32 High School teams from all Classifications.

McKenzie sophomore Zyla Drake led her team in the Girls Varsity 5,000 meters race, finishing 18th out of 76 runners competing, with a time of 22:29.5 minutes. Senior teammate Myra Dion finished right behind Drake in 19th place, running a Personal Record time of 22:33.7 minutes. Annalyse Jenson of Mollala won the race in a time of 19:25.0 minutes and Laynee Adkins-Stewart of Santiam Christian took home second in 20:07.4 minutes.

Eagle senior Will Meister finished highest in the Varsity Boys race for McKenzie, coming in at 27th out of 170 runners, with a time of 18:34.5 minutes. Eagle freshman Cylas Sughroue took the occasion to establish a new Personal Record time, 19:24.7 minutes, and finished 41st. Teammate senior Allen Acevedo finished 64th in 20:22.3 minutes, sophomore Liam Acevedo ran a PR time of 21:11.0 minutes, for 95th place, junior William Valtinson set a PR time with a 113th place finish in 21:52.5 minutes, and freshman Cyrus Bennett finished in 28:03.2 minutes, 166th place and that time was another PR mark. McKenzie Boys, as a team, finished 12th with a score of 300.

Host Stayton won the team competition with 94 points followed by Molalla in second with 104 points. Individually, Tytus Janssen of Santiam Christian won the Boys 5K race, posting a time of 16:41.2 minutes. Nick Wood of Molalla finished second in 16:45.4 minutes and Brandon Wagar of Stayton took third in 16:49.6 minutes. McKenzie’s lone Middle School Boys competitor, seventh grader Conrad Drake, continues his impressive season, this time setting a new Personal Record time of 10:59.2 minutes over a 3,000 meters course and finishing 7th out of a field of 232 runners. Felix Williams won this race in 9:59.3 minutes.

Eagle Volleyball Splits The Week

The McKenzie Varsity Volleyball team made the trip down the River and across the Willamette bottom lands to Triangle Lake, where the Mt. West League leading and undefeated Lakers (8-0, 9-4) put to rest any visiting ideas of upset, easily sending the Eagles back upriver with a 3-0 loss, 25-12, 25-4, 25-14. That result wasn’t totally unexpected, however, and you can bet the Eagles took home a few tidbits of positive knowledge as well. And to prove that point, McKenzie turned it around when Eugene Christian showed up in Finn Rock a couple of days later. The Eagles won the match 3-0, winning the first set 25-20, followed by set two, 25-22, and the deciding set, 25-22.k That was a big step for the improving team and they improved their record to 3-6, 3-7, and remain in a tie for sixth place in the Mt. West League standings with Siletz Valley.

Powers Bullies Its Way Past Winless Eagles

The road trip to Powers in Southern Oregon last Friday featuring the #6 ranked Cruisers and winless McKenzie had the possibilities of a worse defeat than the 44-6 rout Powers inflicted on their SD3 opponent. Powers is a proud football school and the rivalry goes way back, over 50 years worth. So if the Eagles show their pads in the little timber community of Powers, well, don’t expect any mercy. Respect, yes, but it’s understood that if you think you can roll into town and leave with a victory, you’re going to sure earn it and feel it. And, you know, that’s just right, and reciprocated. It’s a healthy respect, and somewhere down the road, the Eagles will have the opportunity to repay the courtesy.

With the victory, Powers continues to lead the SD3 League with a 3-0, 4-2 record followed by Elkton at 2-0,3-1, and North Lake, 2-1,3-2. Crow and Gilchrist sit 1-1,3-1 and 1-1,2-2, respectively and then Days Creek, 0-3,1-4, and McKenzie 0-3,0-5 sit tied at the bottom.